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Happ Finally Breaking Out at Iowa? Ryu is a Jerk, Draft Looms, and Other Bullets

Today, The Wife and I are taking a day date to an amusement park, and I am thoroughly stoked. She’s not so big on the huge rides, but today, she’s gonna brave a lot of them with me (or so she says). So long as there’s no ralphing, I think we’re gonna have a great time!

After yesterday’s game, Happ is hitting .243/.361/.420, which is actually slightly below league average in the PCL this year. But that includes a long stretch at the start of the year when he was pretty clearly struggling badly with the adjustments he was tasked with. Over the last month, the line is .262/.394/.447 (114) with a 21.3% K rate. Over the last 10 days, it’s .343/.439/.686 (173) with a 24.4% K rate. This is what we’ve been hoping the progression would look like: reformat the approach and swing to cut down on the whiffs, then re-incorporate the power.

So when does Happ come back up to the big league club? Well, that’s tricky thing, because you not only want to be sure he’s ready to face big league pitching with his new approach, but you want to be sure he’s going to see enough regular playing time to actually make it work. Right now, it’s not clear where that regular playing time would come from. He wouldn’t immediately displace too much of Kyle Schwarber or Albert Almora’s playing time, as they’ve been playing well the last month. He wouldn’t draw regular starts at second base with three other guys getting time there (Addison Russell, David Bote, Daniel Descalso). Honestly, I think it’s still just a let’s-see-what-happens situation. Happ is still only 24.

Good listen in advance of the draft:

Executive Access is back with an all-new episode! My guest is Cubs Sr. VP of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod. With the draft only days away, it’s a great listen to learn about the amateur scouting process! https://t.co/GYCASMOvVw

So, Hyun-Jin Ryu is an a-hole, because he just finished off May with his 11th straight gem to start the season, and that’s probably going to bounce Kyle Hendricks off the pedestal for Pitcher of the Month in May:

Hyun-Jin Ryu fired 7 2/3 more scoreless innings, exiting to a standing ovation. His 2019 ERA is a cool 1.48. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in a start this season. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a regular-season start since 2017.

Excellent article by Jake Kaplan on The Athletic about the Astros' method of developing pitchers. The entire blueprint is publicly available, and this article sums it up better than most. https://t.co/P67ySFPRZp

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